Updated 2026-01-13
Prompt Engineering Basics
A practical framework for writing prompts that reliably produce usable outputs.
Prompt quality controls output quality. The goal is not clever wording; it is reducing ambiguity and increasing constraints.
The 5-part prompt formula
- Role: who the assistant should act as.
- Objective: what success looks like.
- Context: the situation, audience, product, industry.
- Constraints: length, tone, format, must-include and must-avoid items.
- Verification: ask for assumptions and a checklist to validate the result.
Example
Act as a conversion copywriter.
Objective: write a landing page hero section that increases demo requests.
Context: B2B scheduling software for small clinics. Audience: office managers.
Constraints: 1 headline (<= 9 words), 1 subhead (<= 22 words), 3 bullets, 1 CTA.
Verification: list 3 assumptions and 3 risks.